Social Inequality and Ill-Health

Running head: SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND ILL-HEALTH
SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND ILL-HEALTH
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SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND ILL-HEALTH1
Introduction
Australia is place rich in flora and fauna of various kinds. The country is home to a
variety of cultures and a multitude of human population. Inspite of having a jolly life most
people residing have been falling short of a healthy one. Owing to various factors, people living
with disability, on average, experience considerably lower health than those people without the
misfortune of any disability. The social inequality within Australia refer to the development of
the issues that are presented due to the various factors that lead to the areas of discrimination
(Dorling, 2015). These areas include the income of the concerned person, the wealth of the
concerned person, the social power that is enjoyed by the person, the factors that are inclusive of
the ancestry, ethnicity and the racial positioning of the person concerned as well as the schooling
of the concerned person. The following paper attempts a discussion on the effect of the social
inequality that exists within the territorial boundaries of Australia and the effects that are
presented within the given country in terms of the ill management of the health conditions within
the country.
Social Inequality
The social inequality refers to the presence of the unequal opportunities that are presented
to the citizens of the country. The social inequality that is presented within the various countries
of the world refer to the differences that have been existent within the opportunities and the
proper amount of rewards that are presented to the residents of the country on the basis of the
issues that are presented in terms of the differences in the social status and the social position of
the concerned person. The inequality is generally observed to be majorly present within a certain
group of the society at large. The social inequality within the given country refer to the
development of the issues that are presented due to the various factors that lead to the areas of

SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND ILL-HEALTH2
discrimination (Hurst, Gibbon & Nurse, 2016). These areas include the income of the concerned
person, the wealth of the concerned person, the social power that is enjoyed by the person, the
factors that are inclusive of the ancestry, ethnicity and the racial positioning of the person
concerned as well as the schooling of the concerned person. The major reasons of the social
inequality within the country refer to the impact of the poverty within the given country
(Goldthorpe, 2017). The presence of the poverty within the countries would lead to the major
area of discrimination within the country as well.
The poverty that is existent within the society might be explained through the two
different approaches towards the activity. These refer to the blaming of the poor people residing
within the society as well as the throwing the blame on the societal structure that is followed
within the country (Lareau, 2015). A certain section of the society tends to claim that the people
who have been residing within the country are themselves responsible for their own poverty.
Raudenbush and Eschmann (2015) stated that the people who hold the poor people to be
responsible for their own poverty opine that the given country or the society at large offers a
plethora of various job offers to the residents of the country and thus provides the scope for the
eradication of the poverty within the given societal boundaries.
On the other hand, the people who hold the society responsible for the presence of
poverty within the country have different opinions. The experts of this school of thought tend to
opine the fact that the societal activities and the loss of the jobs within the inner cities tend to
contribute more to the unemployment of the concerned members of the society. This in turn
leads to the increase in the poverty within the country (Uhlmann, 2016). This in turn leads to the
increase in the levels of the social inequality within the concerned countries (Western &
Tomaszewski, 2016). The social inequalities within the Australian territory reveals that the gap

SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND ILL-HEALTH3
that exists within the social classes is huge. The surveys reveal that the people belonging to the
highest income scale earns five times more than those who belong to the lower income scale
within the country. According to Rush, Healy and Arunachalam (2015), this has led to the
increase in the gap between the residents of the country on the basis of the income of the
concerned people.
Ill-health
Australia is place rich in flora and fauna of various kinds and needless to say home to a
variety of cultures and a multitude of human population. Inspite of having a jolly life most
people residing have been falling short of a healthy one. There are quite a few causes of ill health
in Australia. Chronic diseases such as cancer, coronary disease and diabetes are among the few
main causes of misery and ill-health in Australia (Schnall et al., 2018). Two-thirds of the load of
such miserable health issues, is due to the diseases like cardiovascular diseases, various types of
cancer, musculoskeletal conditions, mental disorders and substance use disorders, and injuries.
However, all the population groups do not have the same health situation. Owing to
various factors, people who have been living with the conditions of disability, averagely
experience considerably lower health as compared to people without the misfortune of any
disability. Nearly one out of five Australians, which is nearly 4.3 million residents, have the
misfortune of disability. Around one out of three people with disability have excessive limitation
to a considerable degree (Marmot, 2015).
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's Australia's Health 2016 report says that
Australian boys have a normal life expectancy of around eighty years while girls make it up to
their nineties. However, it has been seen that although the life expectancies are longer, they live